A Close Shave
by con14
Summary: Four months after becoming Chief, Hiccup has become very busy, so much so that he's grown a beard and he can never find time to shave, but Astrid id there to help. Hiccup and Astrid one-shot. Post HTTYD 2 so Spoiler Alert.


It has been a very interesting time on the small island of Berk, for both the citizens and their chief. Three months have passed since the devastating attack by Drago Bludvist and his Bewilderbeast, and repairing the damage has been hard but steady. A good portion of the ice has been cleared away and many the homes that were destroyed were starting to stand again. However the ordeal was not just physically challenging but emotionally as well, Drago's actions has led to the death of a great man, Stoick the Vast, the chief of Berk had lost his life. This tragedy affected everyone, but none took it harder than his own son Hiccup, the new chief of Berk. But even though Stoick is gone he will not be forgotten as a large statue of him was erected near the great hall as a reminder of his bravery.

At first Hiccup had no interest in leading the village, believing that he was not ready for the responsibility, but after his father's death he knew that Berk needed a leader and accepted the position. Now the first month of being chief was difficult, Hiccup was trying to get use to all the managing the village and delegating positions among the people for repair jobs. Luckily he managed to get into the routine and running the village, and it was easy thanks to his trusty Night Fury Toothless and the rest of his friends, one in particular was his girlfriend Astrid. He also had the help of his mother Valka and his mentor Gobber who were also building saddles for all the new dragons who came to Berk.

Speaking of which, Gobber was currently working in the forge and had just finished making a new saddle. This sort of work wasn't normally tiring but this time he was exhausted because the need for new saddles was skyrocketing what with all the new dragons and all.

"Finally done, now onto the next one." He said.

As he picked up a tool he noticed the familiar shape of a four winged Stormcutter dragon by the name of Cloudjumper landing near the forge. The second he touched the ground a figure jumped from his back and landed on the ground, this figure was his rider Valka whom over the last few months has been helping him with some of the workload. Valka walked up to the forge looking slightly lethargic as she approached the counter.

"You alright Valka?" Gobber asked.

"Oh I'm fine Gobber, I'm just tired." She said.

"Rough morning?" He asked.

"Among other things, I got up early to help the Jorgenson's repair their house and help Gunther rebuild his sheep pen. By the way Olaf is asking for a new saddle for his Snafflefang." She said.

"Of course he does, but he's going to have to wait like everyone else." Gobber said.

The one handed blacksmith made his way to his tool rack and grabbed whatever instruments he needed.

"How's the rest of the village?" He asked.

"Better than it was a few months ago, we managed to get most of the ice cleared away and at least now most of the people have a roof over their heads." Valka said.

"Well that's good to hear, this island's been in pretty bad shape." He said.

"I'll say." She said.

"Also it's good to see Hiccup stepping up and taking charge, the people need a leader, especially in these times." He said.

"Couldn't agree with you more Gobber, he's been leading the repairs non-stop, it seems that he's become the leader his father knew he would be." Valka said smiling.

Then the two heard the familiar shriek of the Night Fury coming towards them and in no time Toothless landed near the forge.

"Well speak of the devil." Gobber said.

The new chief jumped off of Toothless and walked over to the counter.

"How's it going 'chief'?" Gobber said with a smile.

"So far so good, I just got done helping Sven rebuild his stable, before that I settled a dispute between Mulch and Bucket and helped repair the Hansson's house." Hiccup said.

"Now that sounds like a busy morning." Valka said.

"You look hungry boy-o." Gobber said.

"I kind of missed breakfast this morning." He said.

"Hang I think I have some leftovers." Gobber said.

"Thanks Gobber."

As he stood there waiting, Valka took a good look at her son and noticed something very interesting about him.

"Oh son, looks like you let yourself grow out a little around the chin." She said.

"What?" He asked.

Hiccup felt around his chin and noticed that his facial hair has grown out considerably around his lower jaw. Normally when you would see him, he would have a clean chin, with maybe some stubble growing out on the sides but that was it. However, after becoming chief, the hair on his face began to grow steadily, during the first month it was just stubble but by the fourth month it has grown into a thin yet full beard that covered his chin, upper lip and cheeks.

"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting about that." He said.

Gobber came back with a small loaf of bread for the young chief.

"Here you go." He said.

"Thank you Gobber." Hiccup said happily taking the bread.

Hiccup ate the bread but when he finished Gobber noticed some crumbs clinging to his beard.

"Ah Hiccup, you got a little…" Gobber said gesturing to his chin.

Hiccup felt around his beard and noticed the bread crumbs which he quickly brushed away.

"Oh thanks Gobber." He said.

When he finally got the last of the crumbs out of his beard, a certain Deadly Nadder named Stormfly landed near them and her blonde haired rider jumped off and walked over the Hiccup.

"Hey Astrid what's going on?" Hiccup asked.

"Just wanted to let you know that we managed to finally wrangle all of Ivan's sheep." She said.

"You think it would be easier to round up a bunch of sheep." He said.

"Tell me about it." She said.

"Well I got to go, I need the help the Bjorkman's build a new chicken shack." Hiccup said.

Hiccup walked back to Toothless but before he got far Astrid grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Hold on there chief." She said.

"Umm Astrid I have to go." He said.

"Just one second." She said.

Astrid turned him around so that he was facing her, she then brushed her fingers through his beard and found what she was looking for, a large bread crumb.

"Didn't want you to go off with this sticking out." She said.

"Huh, thought I got them all." He said.

"Seriously babe I think you need to shave." She said.

"I know, it's just that I've so busy and I never really get time to thoroughly groom myself." He defended.

"Well the least you can you do is clean your beard a little." She said.

"You're right, thank you." He said.

"You're welcome, now get out there and give those chickens a good home." She smiled.

"I will, but first." He said.

He had managed to snake his arm around her waist and pulled her close and kissed her lips which she gladly accepted. However, as they were kissing, Astrid began to feel the facial hair scrape along her skin creating an irritating feeling, but she chose to ignore it, although it was proving difficult. During their kiss they forgot about the other two people standing not ten feet away from them.

"Uh, you two think that you should wait until you're alone before you do that?" Gobber asked as Valka gave a small laugh.

The two broke apart and smiled, then Hiccup turned around where he mounted Toothless and took off to complete their task, leaving Astrid standing there slightly scratching her jaw.

"You alright Astrid?" Valka asked.

Astrid turned to her and smiled.

"I'm fine, it's just that Hiccup's beard keeps scratching my face." She said.

"Oh I know how that feels, same thing happened to me whenever I kissed Stoick." Valka said.

"Really, well how did you deal with it?" She asked.

"I use to ask him to shave and he did, but his beard seemed to grow faster than Hiccup's. Soon I figured that it would be easier to just get used to it, and you know what, I did, in fact I enjoyed the feeling of it." She explained.

"Interesting story, I guess I could get used to it, however I would also like to see his face clean again after four months." She said.

"Well you do whatever makes you feel happy, and by the sound of things I don't think Hiccup would mind too much either." Valka said.

"I guess you're right, thanks Valka." She said.

"Anytime dear." She responded.

Astrid turned to leave, but Gobber stopped her for a quick second

"Oh Astrid one thing, I agree with Valka on this one, but if I may make a suggestion, if you really want to see Hiccup shaved, than just telling him isn't going to cut it." He said.

"What do you mean Gobber?" She asked.

"I mean he might need a little 'help'." He said using his one hand to make air quotes.

"I see, I think I know mean, thanks Gobber." She said.

"No problem lass." He said as she left on Stormfly.

Later that night, the sun had set and the moon had risen and most of the village had gone to sleep, the only one up was Hiccup who was currently in his house working on some blueprints for new houses for villagers, the only source of light being several lit candles. As he worked he periodically stretched his arms which where sore after a long day of working, but he felt good because they were much closer to returning Berk to its former glory. He was the only one up, both his mother and Toothless had gone to bed, though his mother urged him not to stay up too much longer, a typical mother request that no one can ever be too old to hear.

As he was finish up his work he heard a knock at the door, which was weird because no one would normally come at this time of night unless it was an emergency, and the steady knocking was not the case.

"Who's there?" He called.

"Hello, Hiccup?" He heard Astrid's voice from behind the door.

"Astrid?" He asked.

Hiccup got up from his chair and walked over to the door and opened it and saw that it was Astrid standing on the other side with a small smile and holding a small bag and bowl.

"Astrid, what are you doing here?" He asked surprised.

"Hey Hiccup, can I come in?" She asked.

"Sure of course." He said stepping aside and letting her in.

"Thanks." She said.

Astrid entered the house and walked over to the table where she placed the items she was carrying.

"So what brings you here?" He asked.

"What, a girl can't come and visit her boyfriend at his house in the middle of the night?" She asked.

"Not really." He said crossing his arms and giving a smug smile.

"Alright you got me, I came here to talk to you about the beard." She said.

"Astrid I told you before, I'll take care of it but I'm just too busy right now."

"Oh I know, that's why I'm going to help you." She said.

"Excuse me?" He asked.

"I going to help you shave." She said.

"What?" He questioned.

"Take a seat." She said gesturing to the chair next to the table.

"Astrid, I don't need help shaving." He said.

"Well tonight you do, now sit down." She said.

"Astrid I don't…" He started but was interrupted.

"Sit down dragon boy." She said in a stern tone.

Hiccup sighed and walked to the chair, he knew it was pointless to argue with Astrid because they could argue for hours and tonight he just didn't have the energy. He sat down in the chair as Astrid filled the small bowl with water and then placed it on the table. She then reached into the small bag and pulled out a small jar, she lifted the top to reveal a kind of foam that Vikings use to shave, taking some of the foam in her hand she began to rub on Hiccup's beard. After a few seconds the Hiccups lower jaw was almost completely covered in foam, Astrid then put down the jar and wiper her hands with a small clothe.

"Okay, now onto the fun part." She said.

Reaching back into the bag, she pulled out a small knife that is commonly used as a shaving razor, upon seeing the razor, Hiccup got a little nervous. Astrid took the razor and dipped it the water bowl and then approached Hiccup.

"Whoa hold on there." He said stopping her.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Now Astrid don't take this the wrong way, I'm glad that you're helping me, but I have to admit that you with a knife near my neck makes me nervous." He confessed.

"Are you saying that I'm not good with a knife?" She asked slightly offended.

"No I'm saying that you're _really _good with a knife, but even though that's good for you, it's bad for everyone else, especially when it comes to the neck." He said.

Astrid understood where he was coming from, she was very skilled with bladed weapons, mostly axes, but she was pretty good with a knife, and she knew how to use it with deadly effect, but in this moment she just scoffed.

"Oh Hiccup relax, I'm just shaving you not trying to kill you." She said.

"Well that's a relief." He said with a dash of sarcasm.

"Alright here we go." She said.

Astrid walked over to Hiccup and then she stepped one of her legs over his lap so that she was standing over his lap, she then sat down on his lap and straddled him while using her free hand to hold his chin steady. She placed the blade on the right side of Hiccups face near his hear and steadily moved it down, this caused Hiccup to twitch a little.

"Hiccup." She said.

"Sorry, that was cold." He said.

"Well it's a metal blade that I dipped in water, so it's going to be cold." She said.

"Good point." He said.

"Now hold still." She said.

Astrid continued to glide the blade along Hiccup's jawline, every time leaving a trail of bare skin behind and occasionally wiping off the blade of foam and hair. While she was doing this, Hiccup could help but enjoy the treatment. Not only was he starting enjoy the feeling of cool metal on his skin, but also the fact that Astrid Hofferson, the toughest and most beautiful Viking girl on the island was straddling his waist. After a few minutes Astrid took the knife and rinsed in the bowl and then placed it on the table.

"Alright, done." She said.

"Really, how do I look?" He asked.

"Handsome, but don't just take my word for it." She said.

Getting up she gave Hiccup a towel as she once again reached into the bag while Hiccup stood up and wiped any leftover foam of his face.

"Here, see for yourself." She said giving him a small mirror.

Hiccup looked at his reflection and was surprised to see that his face was completely shaven, a sight he had not seen in months. He brought his hand to his face and happily felt the smooth skin on his not hairless chin.

"Great, I'm sorry I ever doubted you." He said.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just happy that your face is shaven, now I won't get scratched." She said.

"From what?" He asked.

"From doing this." She said.

Astrid instantly closed the gap between them and placing both hands on his face she locked her lips with his. Hiccup was slightly surprised, but it quickly wore off as he wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her closer, deepening the kiss. They stayed like that for several seconds, though it felt life hours, then they pulled apart and just looked lovingly into each other's eyes until they reluctantly separated.

"Well I better be getting home before my parents get worried." She said as he placed the items back in the bag.

"Yeah, and I should be getting to bed, a lot more work to be done tomorrow." He said helping her.

After she collected everything, they pair walked over to the door and Hiccup opened it for her, she walked out, but Hiccup stopped her before she got too far.

"Hey Astrid, thanks for the help." He said.

"Not a problem." She replied.

"Well it's getting late, goodnight milady." He smiled.

"And goodnight to you chief." She smiled.

Astrid walked off in the direction to her house as Hiccup closed the door, after putting out the candles he walked up to his bed where he laid down. Rubbing his chin again he thought about tonight's events and then had an interesting thought.

"I got to not shave more often." He said to himself before drifting off the sleep.


End file.
